Survey of Older Minnesotans

In 2015, the Minnesota Board on Aging conducted a statewide survey of persons age 50 and older in Minnesota. The MBA conducts this survey approximately every five to ten years to monitor the changing needs, assets and expectations of older persons in the state and uses this information to improve the design and targeting of public programs for older persons and to help researchers and policy makers better understand Minnesota’s older population.

Survey MethodsThe Survey of Older Minnesotans was conducted via telephone interviews with a random sample of noninstitutionalized persons age 50 and older in the state of Minnesota. The sample was stratified into two regions, resulting in 1,990 responses for Greater Minnesota and 2,010 for the Metro Area. Independent samples were drawn for each region so that the total number of completed interviews in each could be controlled, allowing for analysis of the regional and merged samples. The final merged sample size is 4,000 persons.

Interviews were conducted between February 17 and April 13, 2015. The average interview length was 20.7 minutes. Quotas were established for region (Metro or Greater Minnesota), age group and gender based on 2010 Census results.

The survey was conducted under contract to the Minnesota Board on Aging by Vital Research, LLC.